


Curiosity

by Jiggle_Physics



Series: The Arcana [5]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Female Apprentice (The Arcana), Fluff, Light Angst, No Beta, We die like men in this house, a wizard should know better, apprentice familiar - Freeform, the apprentice is a dumbass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 09:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18280121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiggle_Physics/pseuds/Jiggle_Physics
Summary: She just wanted to see if she could get away with sneaking out of the shop, magical books in tow regardless.





	Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I seem to be in the mood for angsty fluff? I'm thinking of writing this in Asra's pov, maybe. In the meantime enjoy and thank you so much for reading!

Was it stupid? Most likely. Was she going to get caught, maybe? There were few things Kyah did that went against Asra's cautious nature. He only seemed cautious when it came to her and the rapidly developing magic inside her. After all, he dared wilds, wilderness, and had adventures that she threatened to sneak out and follow him on. Maybe this was one of those attempts? She just wanted to see if she could get away with sneaking out of the shop, magical books in tow regardless. 

Kyah had made it out of their shared room and almost past the display case when the sound of scales on wood made her freeze. Damn. She hadn't accounted for Asra's familiar. Said snake joyfully slipped away from the shadows to just in front of her.

_Run?_

"Shh!" Why she was trying to quite a snake that couldn't actually speak she didn't know, "I just want to try some spells without him hovering, please Faust?"

_No Asra?_

"No Asra." Kyah prayed silently that the snake would just let her by, Shillelagh was already outside waiting.

_Come help!_

Realizing that there wouldn't be a way around it she lifted Faust onto her shoulders then as quietly as possible slipped out into the night. She needed to go to the flooded district, despite the spell being small it was of fire element and she didn't want to cause any damage. Her familiar didn't let out a cry as they flew into the night scouting ahead for a building she could practice in. 

_Bad idea._ It was Shillelagh that commented from above.

"Yes, thank you for your imput." She snarked to the winged hunter.

The bearded vulture found a building that Kyah could work with. It was dilapidated, weathered and covered with funguses that flourished from the steady water source. Climbing into it was difficult, the wood bowed and threatened to break under her light step, each creak caused a shudder to run down her spine but this was the price of her decision. 

Finally settling into a spot with her feet soggy from treading through the water atop an old dresser -that she was surprised was sturdy enough to hold her weight- did she pull out one of the books. It was leather bound, the spine torn in places, the pages smelled of ink and something distinctively Asra. He always took books on the road and seemed to know exactly which one she wanted to look at thus taking them under the pretense of studying. She handled the pages carefully not wanting to rip or injure them in any fashion until she landed on a beginners spell. 

It was simple, lighting a candle with your breath and snuffing it out the same way. She dug about the satchel she brought and produced an often used cream colored candle and stared. Magic was a difficult art that required different ways to make a spell of any kind work but Asra had taught her something startling true with every spell. Intent. Kyah had to demand the will power to make what she wanted to be true. 

She remembered the spring how he taught her to make that breath last when the lilypad collapsed under her, plunging her into deep blue hues. 

Make it last.

Kyah breathed out slowly, the deep gulp of air she'd taken brushing against the wick while trying to conjure the flame. She could imagine the searing heat of it, dangerous and wonderful. Beautiful like a blazing star, dazzling brightly in the night sky or soaring as if a bird over dunes, plains, and seas. It offered light and warmth and a hearty meal as a breeze swept through the camp they'd made. It was a searing pain crawling down her spine and through her very bones. The echoes of screams spilling into the air as the waves lapped at her legs.

She didn't want to die. Not here. She didn't want to burn, she longed for the cool of the waves and it's midnight hues that would incase her. The sensation of drowning that many said was compared to slipping into a dream. Instead, it was cloying her sense, the ash falling heavy on her and biting worse than the sand where she had collapsed upon. The memory of being lifted and her weak struggles. 

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me please, please. Please._

Tears ran down her face in rivulets despite her not being able to move as they carried her somewhere. She begged them not to burn her, or she tried. Kyah couldn't speak her throat too dry, tongue to swollen and it all tasted of blood. The violent reds casting shadows and the heat spilling over her skin. She felt too heavy and when the screeching metal sound opened she knew. It would burn. It would sear. She was going to d-

"Kyah!" The hands were freezing on her skin and she sank into the sensation of it. 

The scent that enveloped her was familiar. It protected her. From the world, people, and she supposed herself. It was herbs, and the road and clear blue skies with a gentle sun beaming down on them. Bathing in golden rays atop a roof during a light nap. It was the crisp cool wind that caressed on too hot days. A pool of water that dazzled with colors the likes she could only wonder at. 

"Asra." The name sounded choked as if she'd been crying as the eyes she'd shut opened.

"I'm here, right here." The world around her looked scorched, the black climbed up the walls and hot embers were still breathing shades of red around her, "It's okay."

They were sat on the floor, more her laying halfway across Asra's lap like she'd fainted and him holding her, where he buried his face in her hair. The house was in ruins, some parts ash like the dresser she'd sat on and the floor above her. It was all black and crackling like in a furnace, she trembled at the though before shoving it away like a nightmare. 

"What the actual hell were you thinking?" He didn't sound angry, he sounded frightened.

"I...I just wanted to...it was...I'm sorry." Kyah couldn't find the right words, she couldn't explain why she'd thought it was a good idea only that at the time it'd seemed logically sound. 

"Don't. Ever again. Please, just don't." 

"I won't. Ever, I swear." She pulled away from him, taking her face from under his chin and against his chest. 

Asra's hands were uncomfortably warm, now that she noticed and a shade of red. Burned. What happened when she closed her eyes? He winced when she held them, staring at the bright color, it was her fault. Was she burning when he'd grabbed her? Why didn't she feel like it? Instead of wondering she focused on the marred skin, he shouldn't have grabbed her. The spell was sluggish on her tongue but the magic rose up like a wave. She could feel the sea foam lapping at her legs with the tide rolling in, the waves breaking against the ground gently. The smell of salt and the ocean breeze. 

It was a beautiful blue color with white tinges in it. Healing magic, something she'd also learned while he was gone, that spilled across his skin and left her exhausted. Curious that the fire roared in her veins then burst with her will but water and healing were what left her light-headed with the amount of effort she needed. It worked though. The golden tanned skin she knew was returned and the only marks were on his fingertips where he'd hurt himself from digging, so he told her. 

Asra saw her sway when she went to stand up and caught her before tipping over, "By the gods you're the most stubborn ass woman I've ever known in my life."

She grinned up at him sheepishly, "Sorry."

He rolled his eyes and carefully picked her up, "Sure you are. Let's get home before you come up with a new idea on how to give me a heart attack."

"I would never. I like your heartbeat too much." He flushed and held her closer, her ear pressed to his chest to hear the steady but soft tones of said heart.

The tired magician didn't make it out of the flooded district before falling asleep in cool arms and breeze against her skin. No more heat, no more fire. Just Asra.


End file.
